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The Old Catholic Confederation and the Anglican Communion

The Old Catholic Confederation acknowledges the Bonn Agreement of 1931 between the Church of England and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht. As the canonical Old Catholic Church in the United States, the Synod of Bishops of the Old Catholic Confederation remain committed to the ecclesial bond between Old Catholics and Anglicans around the world.

Like the Union of Utrecht, which established full Communion between the
Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Church of England (and
thereby, with all of the Churches of the Anglican Communion) through the Bonn Agreement of 1931, the Old Catholic
Confederation and the Church of the
Province of West Africa, established full Communion with one another, and
thereby, with all of the Churches of the Anglican Communion through the Christmas Agreement of 2013, in accordance with Anglican canon law concerning the nature and equality of all national Churches and
Provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The Church of the Province of West Africa and The Old Catholic Confederation

Archbishop Sarfo presenting a special Stole made in Ghana to Archbishop de Paulo after their Eucharistic Concelebration in Philadelphia.

On May 31, 2015, there was an historic Eucharistic Concelebration on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, at the Old Catholic Pro-Cathedral in Philadelphia, demonstrating full Communion between the Old Catholic Church in the United States (Old Catholic Confederation) and the Church of the Province of West Africa (Anglican Communion). Archbishop Dr. Daniel Y. Sarfo, the Primate of West Africa, was Guest Presider, with Archbishop Dr. Craig J. N. de Paulo, Primate of the Old Catholic Confederation, and Bishop Lamido Buba, Bishop of Wusasa (Anglican Communion), concelebrating.

On the Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord, December 25, 2013, His Grace, The Most Rev. S. Tilewa Johnson, the late Primate and Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Church of Province of West Africa, officially recognized the Old Catholic Confederation as a "distinct Old Catholic Christian Community" in ecclesial partnership with the Church of the Province of West Africa (Anglican Communion), having full Communion with the CPWA, thereby, with all of the Churches of the Anglican Communion. At that time, the Church of the Province of West Africa also recognized the Archdiocese of the United States of the Old Catholic Confederation as the canonical Old Catholic Church in the United States.

His Grace, The Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Yinkah Sarfo is the current Primate and Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of the Church of West Africa, and he is also an Honorary and Collegial Bishop of the Old Catholic Confederation.

His Grace, The Most Rev. Dr. Craig J. N. de Paulo, Primate of the Old Catholic Confederation and Archbishop of the United States, also serves in the Diplomatic capacity as Episcopal Commissary of the Church of the Province of West Africa to North America, representing the more than one million Christians of West Africa to the Episcopal Church of the United States and to the Anglican Church of Canada. Archbishop de Paulo was first appointed by the late Archbishop S. Tilewa Johnson on December 25, 2013, and he continues to serve the current Primate, Archbishop Dr. Daniel Yinkah Sarfo.

With this historic proclamation, Archbishop Johnson, the late Anglican Primate of West Africa recognized that Old Catholics in the United States require their own Church, which is separate and distinct from the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Archbishop Johnson recognized that the 1931 Bonn Agreement of full Communion requires clear ecclesial identity, so that the Old Catholic Church and the Anglican Church remain "separate and distinct." Thus, the Episcopal Church in the United States (which is a Province of the Anglican Communion) is not an Old Catholic Church; and it is demeaning and disrespectful to Old Catholics to be asked to worship and to become Episcopalian in order to live their Old Catholic faith. As Archbishop Johnson understood, the only way for Old Catholics in North and South America to live their ancient Catholic faith authentically is to have their own Old Catholic Church under their own Synod of Bishops.

The Church of Nigeria and the Old Catholic Confederation

On September 15, 2018, the Order of St. Willibrord was officially received as a distinct Old-Catholic Order of priests, oblates and associates by our Patron, His Grace, The Most Rev. Lamido A. Buba, Archbishop of Kaduna, Dean of the Church of Nigeria and Bishop of Wusasa of the Church of Nigeria of the Anglican Communion.

Inspired by the 1931 Bonn Agreement between Anglicans and Old-Catholics, it is the only religious Order in the worldwide Anglican Communion that exists as an ecclesial expression of the full Communion between Anglican and Old-Catholics.

The Order of St. Willibrord is seeking prospective candidates for postulancy in the Order who have a vocation to the priesthood and to a life of teaching.

Documents

03-30-2015 LETTER OF DIPLOMATIC APPOINTMENT OF ARCHBISHOP DR. CRAIG J. N. de PAULO AS EPISCOPAL COMMISSARY OF THE CHURCH OF THE PROVINCE OF WEST AFRICA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION) TO NORTH AMERICA BY ARCHBISHOP DR. DANIEL YINKAH SARFO, PRIMATE AND ARCHBISHOP. (PDF)